Fickling is the man whose first conviction for the 1996 deaths of his ex-girlfriend and her toddler daughter was thrown out in the wake of a jailhouse confession by serial killer Alfred J. Gaynor.

Lawyers in the case appeared before Judge C. Brian McDonald on Friday, with the judge continuing matters until Monday. In talking to the lawyers from his bench, McDonald stopped short of saying what he expects to transpire next in the case.

The new trial had been scheduled to begin two weeks ago, but was delayed when Judge Judd J. Carhart, who was due to be named to the state Appeal Court, withdrew from presiding at trial and said a new judge would need to be appointed.

McDonald then began hearing pre-trial motions in the case, and both prosecution and defense lawyers said earlier this week that the start of the trial would depend on the availability of a DNA expert.

Fickling was granted a new trial on murder charges for the killing of Amy Smith and leaving her 22-month-old daughter to die of starvation and dehydration. First convicted by a jury in 1997, Fickling had been serving two life sentences.

Fickling’s defense lawyer Greg T. Schubert in December 2008 filed a motion seeking the new trial on the basis of a confession from Gaynor, who is Fickling’s uncle. Gaynor, who was convicted of killing four other Springfield woman, claims he alone killed Smith and Fickling had no involvement in the deaths.

Hampden District Attorney William M. Bennett and Schubert had no comment Friday on the status of the trial.

Gaynor is serving four life sentences after his May 2000 convictions by a jury for the murders of JoAnn C. Thomas, Loretta Daniels, Rosemary A. Downs and Joyce L. Dickerson-Peay.

Smith, 20, and her daughter were found dead in their second-floor apartment at 280 Dwight St. on July 11, 1996.